Easter

5 Steps to a Successful Church “Spring Cleaning” Project

Periodically our church facilities need a bit of sprucing up. If you walk through the campus and focus on the details, you’re likely to notice weeds in the landscaping, chipped paint, frayed carpet, and other areas for improvement. These tasks typically don’t require a considerable budget to fix. The bigger concern is the labor required to complete them all in a reasonable timeframe. One way to solve this problem is by inviting people to volunteer for a church beautification day. The church provides the supplies and instructions, while volunteers provide the sweat equity. If a church “spring cleaning” project might be in order, here’s how to prepare for a successful effort: Step #1: Assess the Situation Perform a detailed tour of the church facilities and note each item or area that needs attention.  Exterior: Interior: Step #2: Develop a Church Spring Cleaning Plan Create a list of the supplies necessary for each task and identify what items you’ll need to purchase. Consider whether you can finish all of the tasks in a single day or will need to finish one before you can start another. For example, it might be best to let the paint dry in a classroom before replacing the carpet in that same room. Next, estimate how many volunteers you’ll need for each task and if you need volunteers with specific skill sets. Create a schedule including when you need volunteers to arrive, who will lead each team of volunteers, where you’ll stage supplies, etc. If this project will last all day, provide lunch, water, and snacks for those participating. If you’ll need multiple days to complete all the items on your list, determine which tasks to tackle each day. Step #3: Invite Volunteers to Participate Once you have a plan, you’d probably like to get started right away. However, it’s best to announce this project and ask people to sign up at least 3 to 4 weeks beforehand. This gives people time to consider their schedules and find a way to participate if possible. Step #4: Organize the Day Respect the time of those who’ve signed up to help by having an organized plan for the day. Ask all volunteers to check-in at a central location on campus, then have team leaders take their volunteers to the place they’re assigned to work on. Make sure to have all the supplies needed set up at each station with water and snacks available as well.  Make sure your team leaders know what their teams need to do and get their volunteers started right away. These team leaders could be staff members or key volunteer leaders you’ve already met with about this project. Walk around and check on each team to see if they need anything throughout the day. Set a time for everyone to enjoy lunch together as well. Make this a fun atmosphere that gets the work done but also provides volunteers with a chance to get to know each other. Let teams know they’re welcome to stay and help others when they finish their tasks or they can head home – whatever works best for them. Step #5: Express Your Appreciation Since this church beautification project will likely happen on weekday evenings or on a Saturday, take a minute during the next Sunday’s services to thank your volunteers. In addition, mail thank you cards to each volunteer the week after. Post before and after pictures of various areas on your church’s Facebook page or other social media account and thank the teams who participated. This lets your volunteers know how much you appreciate their work and may encourage others to volunteer for similar projects in the future. A church spring cleaning project can have many benefits. This effort can result in a better environment for Sunday services, a great experience for volunteers, and less strain on church staff by checking off a big to-do list in a short timeframe. By carefully planning the day and setting up your volunteers for success, you’ll make that possible for everyone involved.

5 Steps to a Successful Church “Spring Cleaning” Project Read More »

A Comprehensive Guide to Planning for Easter

Planning an event takes time, teamwork, and lots of organization. Planning for Easter celebrations requires a bit of extra attention. Instead of surfing the web for various tools on how to plan for your Easter weekend, we thought it would be helpful to have one checklist to lead you through the entire planning process. We’ve gathered everything you need to know into one comprehensive guide to help you plan an incredible Easter for your church while also being able to pause and reflect on the season yourself. #1 — Plan Your Plan A part of planning for Easter includes creating the planning process. Follow these seven steps to pull off an amazing Easter service. Choose a Leader First things first, decide who will be in charge of coordinating Easter at your church. Make sure it’s someone who has event planning skills as well as time in their schedule. The Senior Pastor, for example, probably shouldn’t be the one handling Easter logistics, as crafting the sermon and approving the high-level plan is the SP’s focus. Whoever is in charge will need to coordinate between ministry departments — worship, children, youth, service, security, facilities, communications, etc. —  to keep everyone on the same page and working toward the same goals. Don’t forget to pull in the accounting, communications, and facilities departments. They tend to get overlooked but they can have a huge impact on the success of Easter services and events. Having one person coordinating tasks is also helpful in preventing several departments from doing repetitive work. Determine the Scope There are so many things to explore when it comes to planning for Easter celebrations. Once you’ve chosen your leader, get a group together to determine the scope of your church’s capabilities. Will you include outreach events the week before, host an Easter egg hunt, or offer a breakfast gathering before service begins? You may even be thinking of putting on an Easter play. Write this out and talk it over with your department leads before moving on to step three. Finalize a Budget Creating a budget is such a crucial step to a successful Easter that we dedicated an entire blog post about it. For now, here are a few highlights: Find out if your church has a budget for Easter. If not, discuss money allocation options with your church accountant or executive pastor. From equipment rentals to decor to food, determine what your congregation will need in order to meet your scope. Draft your budget, including estimates, and send it to department leads for review. Create a Step-by-Step Plan Now that we’re counting weeks instead of months until Easter, it’s helpful to assign each task to a specific week to make sure it’s accounted for. Here is a high-level list of tasks by week leading up to Easter: Week 1: Finalize the overall theme and scope of activities for Easter weekend. This includes the sermon title, color scheme, themed décor, communion, food items, etc. Gather a planning team. Create and finalize a budget. Walk through the church campus and make a list of any repairs, clean up, or beautification work needed Week 2: Submit Purchase Requests for supplies, rentals, print jobs, etc. Finalize color scheme for Easter graphics. Determine if the church will do any outreach events leading up to Easter. Week 3: Order supplies needed for décor, guest handouts/gifts, etc. Order rentals (tables, chairs, sound equipment) Hire additional security personnel if needed. Create graphics for sermon slides, church website, social media posts, handouts, etc. Plan outreach events (if applicable). Determine volunteer needs (how many you’ll need in each role for Easter weekend). Ask for volunteers to help with church repair, clean up, or beautification projects. Week 4: Create social media posts and start scheduling them. Create Facebook ads. Finalize worship set list. Schedule worship team rehearsals. Ask current volunteers to serve during Easter weekend. Week 5: Recruit additional volunteers as needed (contact people who have served at events but not on a regular basis). Prepare volunteer instructions and training materials. Purchase supplies needed for Easter Sunday. Promote Easter services via Facebook ads, social media posts, and mass email to the congregation. Decide how to follow up with Easter guests and set that system in place. You may need additional volunteers to help with data entry or other follow-up needs. Week 6: Complete church repair, clean up, or beautification projects. Finalize sermon slides. Send any final print jobs to the printer. Encourage the congregation to invite others to Easter services. Week 7: Double check that all supplies needed for Easter Sunday were purchased. Conduct a service run-through. Conduct worship team rehearsal. Host outreach event if applicable. Put guest follow-up process into place. Put the Plan into Place Now that you have your weekly plan, assign tasks to the appropriate team member, making sure to emphasize the deadlines for each. It’s also a good idea to send email reminders to your team in the days and weeks before their task is set to be complete. When volunteers are likely dealing with a number of obligations outside of church, this is a great way to keep your church activities relevant and on track. Enjoy an Impactful Easter! If you have followed this list until now, you are ready to reap the fruits of your labor. Now, enjoy an impactful Easter! Review and Reflect Hosting a successful Easter celebration for years to come is only possible with a review of what worked and, most importantly, what didn’t. Sit down with your planning team and members of your congregation to determine what didn’t go quite as smoothly as you’d hoped. Learn from these lessons and plan better for next year. #2 — Recruit Volunteers Without a doubt, you’re going to need extra hands for Easter. By putting these tips into practice, you can start filling those volunteer roles now while adding to your regular volunteer team later. For a full discussion on working with volunteers in your church, take a look at my

A Comprehensive Guide to Planning for Easter Read More »

Shopping Cart
Scroll to Top